The Eppes Method VI Moving on
by Tali1980
Summary: After the events in "Janus List" and "Trust Metric" Colby and the team are struggling. Can Don help them move on and get his 'family' back?, Warning: disciplinary spanking of an adult, no slash
1. Chapter 1

**The Eppes Method VI – Moving on**

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_After the events in "Janus List" and "Trust Metric" Colby and the team are struggling. Can Don help them move on and get his 'family' back?_

_I don't own Numb3rs, CBS or any of the characters. _

_Warning: This story contains the disciplinary spanking of an adult. No slash._

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Don left the office deep in thought. Sighting he got into his car after a long week at work. It had been almost three months since they found Colby's name on the Janus list. The team was back together, healed and saved but things seemed to have changed forever.

Colby was withdrawn from the team. At first it looked like he could handle everything well and was adjusting to being back on the team but then something changed. He did his job - maybe a bit more recklessly than he should - but wouldn't talk much to anyone anymore. So far he had turned down all invitations to dinner at the Eppes house or anything else. Don had offered him to stay over but hadn't pressed the issue when Colby declined thinking he just needed some time. But time didn't seem to have helped any so far. He had also urged his agent to go see Dr. Greene but was met with strong resistance. He didn't push on this either hoping it would show Colby that he still trusted him.

Don himself had needed some time to get over everything that happened. To an extend, he had understood the difficult situation the younger man had been in but it still hurt that he had kept something this important from him – orders or not. Nonetheless, he had not punished Colby feeling that it wouldn't be fair. Now he was wondering if that would have helped his youngest agent to move on.

The rest of the team was off too. Megan tried to engage Colby in their usual chit chat and bantering but failed every time. She was worried and tense and had trouble with eating again. Don had kept an eye on her and even gave her a few swats on one occasion after she had fought him on having lunch for multiple days in a row. It made him feel rotten but at least it seemed to have given Megan some sense of normalcy and grounded her enough to let go of some of her stress.

His brother was just upset around the agents and kept to his office at CalSci a lot. He spoke to Don at home about the cases they worked together but avoided the FBI building at all cost.

And then there was David. Don sighed again. He was obviously still very angry with Colby and seemed unable to move past that. Don had tried talking to him and David understood the situation intellectually but letting go of his anger and disappointment and forgiving his friend for what felt like a betrayal was a different story. Nonetheless, he treated his teammates with respect and did his work so there was no good reason for Don to step in.

Don took a deep breath making a promise to himself to stick it out and do his best to help the team through the difficult situation. He started of by calling Dr. Greene. After a long talk he felt better. The psychologist made him see that giving things time was a good approach but that part of the problem was that Colby felt so guilty that until he had moved passed that there would be no true resolve.

"But I can't punish him now for something I am not convinced he deserves to be punished for in the first place." Don protested.

"I know and you are right," the doctor agreed, "just wait a little longer. I am sure young Mr. Granger will find a way to get what he needs from you – even if he won't like it."

"Oh no," Don groaned understanding what the doctor implied, "I don't even want to imagine the kind of trouble he could get himself in."

"I know." Don could hear the smile in Dr. Greene's words "Don, you are doing great. Things will work out. Just follow your instincts."

Inevitably Dr. Greene was right and Colby indeed managed to break Don's rules in a rather spectacular way but Don didn't know that yet when he got a phone call from his agent one early Monday morning just a few days later.

Don, Charlie and Alan Eppes were having breakfast together – which was rare for a weekday –when Don's cell phone rang. He saw Colby's number and answered right away.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Don," he heard Colby's faint voice, "I need help." After that he could not really understand anything anymore and then the line went dead.

Frantically he hurried to get his gun while telling his father and brother "Something is wrong with Colby. I am going over there."

"Do you want us to do anything?" Alan Eppes asked.

"Yeah, call 911 and have an ambulance sent. He sounded bad. And then maybe take a separate car and come too. Just wait in front of the building and show the paramedics where to go. Don't come in unless I call you – there might be trouble."

With these words Don ran out of the house and made it in 3 minutes to Colby's apartment. After clearing every room he found his agent passed out but breathing in his bedroom. One look around and he got a horrible sense of dread in his stomach. It seemed obvious what had happened here. Multiple bottles of pills where on the nightstand as well as some beers and a half-empty vodka bottle. Could Colby have tried to take his own life but changed his mind at the last minute to call him? Don barely had time to glance at the labels before the EMTs arrived. They checked Colby over quickly and decided that he was best helped at the hospital. Putting all of the pills in a plastic bag Don followed them. As he climbed into the ambulance he asked his Dad, "Can you call Megan and David, and then come to the hospital?"

"Sure Donnie," Alan Eppes promised softly.

At the hospital Don could do nothing but wait while the doctors worked on his agent. After about 20 minutes one of them came out to talk to him.

"Are you Agent Eppes?" he asked. Seeing Don's nod he continued, "I am Dr. Montgomery. Mr. Granger is doing fine. He'll be sleeping for a while but should be back on his feet by tonight or tomorrow at the latest. Thank you for bringing the pills. That was helpful."

Don let out a breath of relief. "Doctor Montgomery, do you think he did this to himself?" he asked uncertain.

"Unless you found a letter, Agent Eppes, I don't believe so. There were still a lot of pills left which would be unusual in a suicide. To me this looks like an accidental overdose. He was taking anti-anxiety drugs and something to sleep at the same time and maybe more than the recommended dosages. Even if not, adding alcohol and pain killers to the mix can have a strong sedating effect," the doctor explained kindly, "Nonetheless, I would like to recommend a psychological evaluation. From the looks of it he might be battling depression and I did not find a medical reason for taking pain meds in the first place. Can you think of any?"

"He had some problems following a case a couple months back but he healed and should not have needed any medication any more." Don responded worriedly.

"Then he may have developed a dependency. For a healthy, emotionally stable young man it should not be a big problem to deal with this but if he is depressed he might just need a little more help and support. Does he have family?" the doctor asked.

Don sank down on a chair putting his face in his hands. He just shook his head. "My team used to function like a family but ever since that case I just mentioned, we have been in trouble." He could not believe he'd confess something like this to a stranger.

The doctor looked up along the corridor and smiled a little, "Well it looks like the cavalry is here anyway."

Don followed his gaze and saw the team, his brother and his Dad wait in a respectful distance to not disturb his talk with the doctor. All of them looked anxious and worried.

The doctor put his hand on Don's shoulder, "To me it looks like you'll be fine. I see you later."

Don smiled sadly and thanked the doctor. He walked over to the others and explained to them what happened.

Charlie looked disbelieving and Megan had a hard time holding back tears. Both of them were anxious to go see Colby so he let them go. David just stood in his spot at the window looking like he was fighting some demons of his own. Don turned to his Dad, "Can you take me to the office and then to Colby's place to get my car and come back here?"

Alan Eppes nodded, "I'll be waiting outside for you."

Don smiled thankfully at his Dad who had understood his need for some privacy. Turning to his agent he pulled David from his thoughts, "Are you okay?"

When David turned to him Don was surprised to see his eyes shining with tears. "I am so sorry, Don. This is my fault. I have been treating him horribly."

"Hey, what are you talking about?" the senior agent inquired taken aback.

"A few weeks ago he came to my apartment and tried to apologize again. But I was still so angry with him. I just told him to give it up and not to expect any forgiveness from me. I also said that you let him off easy and he did not deserve to be on the team anymore. I even sorta punched him. I guess I tried to provoke a fight to work of my anger. But he just turned white and left. I regretted it almost right away but I could not bring myself to tell him it wasn't the truth. And now he has gone and …," David trailed off with a miserable look on his face.

Don frowned, "David, I don't believe it. Getting angry after everything that happened is human, even wanting to fight him I can understand somewhat but making him suffer for weeks was cruel. You are a better man than that."

David cringed at his boss's obvious disappointment but he knew he deserved it.

"What happened today with him was an accident," Don continued, "I don't want you to blame yourself for that but I am not convinced you don't deserve to be punished for making him think you believed what you said for so long in the first place."

David just nodded, "I am sorry."

"I know David," Don conceded, "and like I said I understand that you were angry and upset but I want you to figure out how to move on. We need to fix this."

David nodded again not knowing what to say.

"Alright, I need to go and speak to Director Merrick. Are you okay to stay here and be nice if he wakes up? He'll be in enough trouble when he gets better. What he needs from his BEST friend right now is support and forgiveness. If you don't find it in your heart to offer that, I'd rather take you to the office with me and let Megan handle it." Don spoke quietly to his agent.

Don shook his head, "I'll stay here. I promise I'll make this right."

"Good. Thank you." Don slapped his agent on the back before leaving.

When Don came back to the hospital barely three hours later he could not believe the picture in front of him. In the hallway just a couple feet away from Colby's room his agents stood with Dr. Montgomery. David and Colby were jelling as the top of their lungs while the doctor was trying to calm them down. Megan gave them some space but looked ready to intervene if things got out of hand. Charlie was standing further away and seemed a bit lost.

"What is going on?" Don roared.

The whole group jumped and turned towards him – all of them speechless for the moment. Don quickly surmised by the way Colby was dressed in his regular clothes that he was attempting to sign himself out and David was trying to stop him. Angrily the team lead grabbed Colby's upper arm and dragged the young agent back into his room. He motioned for the others to follow.

Colby started to protest but was cut off with a "Not one word out of you." from Don.

Back in the room, Don none too gently pushed the young agent to sit on his bed. Getting close to his face Don threatened in a deadly quiet voice, "Do not move a muscle until I get back. I am going to talk to the doctor first."

Don and Doctor Montgomery went back outside. The agents and Charlie watched them talk seriously with each other through the window but no sound made it back into the room. After a few minutes the two men shook hands and Don came back in.

Ignoring everybody else he focused on Colby, "Would you care to explain why on earth you tried to sign yourself out?"

Colby would not look at Don or anyone else in the room. Instead he hugged himself around the middle in an attempt to hold on to his emotions. Staring at the floor it was clear that the young agent was too upset to answer.

Don was seething. "What did I tell you would happen if you ever foolishly put your life in danger again?" he asked in a tone that left no room for arguments.

Colby looked up blushing deep red and was met with a steely gaze from his boss. After a minute he answered barely audible, "You said you'd blister my butt so that I could not sit for two days and then you'd spank me every night for a week."

The other agents and Charlie looked at one another shocked but neither Colby nor Don seemed to be aware that they were still in the room.

"And what do you deserve for the stunt you pulled this morning?" Don demanded.

Colby blushed even more furiously and answered quietly studying the floor, "What you said."

"And what would you have deserved, if you had managed to sign yourself out and run off on your own?" came the next question.

"What you said."

"That's right, and just for trying to sign yourself out I have a good mind to let everyone watch you getting blistered. Maybe that will remind you and everyone on this team to be less cavalier with your lives." Don could not help raising his voice in anger again just thinking about all the things that could have happened to the young man he had become to regard as another little brother.

The anger in Don's voice sparked the same response in Colby. He just snapped. Quick as lightning he jumped off the bed, pushed Don hard in the chest and just exploded, "I hate you. Why do you even care? You weren't even here when I woke up – nobody was here. I wanted to stay on this team but nobody has forgiven me. Nobody trusts me. I know that you all hate me and just want me off the team. And now I have screwed up good enough for the FBI to have a reason to fire me. Don't think I'll take any of your punishments on top of that just for you to kick me out anyway."

Breathing heavily he sank back on his bed holding himself again and rocking ever so slightly trying his best not to give in to the tears and anguish he felt.

Surprised by the push Don had staggered a couple feet back but quickly regained his composure. David in the meantime had jumped up and placed himself between his boss and his teammate to stop the former from killing the later. But it wasn't necessary.

"It's ok David." Don said completely calm putting a hand on his agent's shoulder and tugging him towards the door. "Why don't you guys go for some fresh air while I talk with Colby? I promise he'll still be in one piece when I am done."

When they got to the door, Don asked very quietly so that Colby would not hear, "Where you really not in the room when he woke up?"

David nodded looking guilty and answered, "We are so sorry. The doctor came when he was still sleeping and told us to go get some coffee while he performed a few tests. He made it sound like it would be a while till Colby woke up anyway. It was really not intentional. And when we came back he was already getting dressed trying to get out of the hospital. I am sorry."

Don nodded in understanding as David and Megan walked out followed by Charlie who still looked very upset. Spontaneously Don pulled his brother into a quick hug and whispered in his ear, "It will be ok. Don't worry." With a little smile of relief Charlie shut the door behind himself as Don turned towards his agent.


	2. Chapter 2

**Part 2**

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_Thank you all so much for the nice reviews. I hope you'll continue to like this story._

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Colby had not really registered anything that went on around him since his outburst. He was too busy thinking about how the team hated him and how he was probably going to loose the job he loved. Don's heart went out to the young man watching the anguish on this face and in his body language.

He went over and sat next to him on the bed. Without asking he just pulled Colby into a tight hug and held him. This gesture of kindness just bypassed all defenses the upset young man was trying to keep up. In an instant he melted into the embrace, holding on as if his life depended on it and started sobbing. Don did not even attempt to say anything. He just held him, rubbing soothing circles on his back and let him cry. It took almost 30 minutes for the heavy sobbing to quiet down.

"Are you ready to listen to me, Buddy? You don't even need to say anything." Don asked gently using his brother's nickname. Colby just nodded against his chest not ready to look up yet.

"I am really sorry nobody was here when you woke up," Don started off, "Megan, David and Charlie where all in the hospital but the doctor had asked them to leave your room earlier and they didn't know it was ok to come back yet. And I was back at the office to speak to Director Merrick, because my friend you are not getting fired at all. I told you before and I am telling you again, I will not give up on you. Believe me I wanted to be here with you but this was something I needed to fix before the rumors start."

Colby looked up at him in surprise, "Oh," was all he could say.

"And as for 'hating you and wanting you off the team' that is simply not true. None of us would have been here today if that was the case. Colby, I know things have been tough for you but you have been shutting us out not the other way around. We are all worried about you and have just been trying to give you the time and space you need to heal – not just physically. Do you understand that?" the older agent inquired.

Colby nodded against his chest.

"You know that trust is a difficult thing to regain," Don continued, "We are all doing the best we can. You just need to give us some time too. It has not been easy for any of us but that doesn't mean we haven't forgiven you or will not forgive you. Quite the contrary – I told you before that I understood that you had orders. If you want the truth – my pride was a bit hurt. I would have thought that I could detect something big like this on my own or that you would have confided in me regardless of orders."

He felt the young man tense up against his embrace and hurried to add, "But that is my problem not yours. And I know David said some things to you he should not have said and – more importantly – he did not really mean. He just told me how bad he feels for treating you the way he did and I am sure he'll be telling you himself soon. Colby, what you really need is to trust us to be there for you and to forgive yourself and move on. And even more than that, you need to stop hurting yourself." With these last words Don gave Colby a little shake to emphasize their importance.

"But you didn't even punish me." Colby murmured into his chest.

"How could I have punished a 'hero'?" Don tried to lighten the mood but just earned a glare from his agent. Sighting he continued, "No, I did not. After all that happened and all I had learned about your assignment it just felt wrong. We talked about this, remember? But that doesn't mean I gave up on you or that I will not punish you for other things anymore – like the way you put your life at risk this morning. What were you doing?"

Tears were streaming down Colby's face again, "I am sorry Don. I am so sorry for everything. I wanted to tell you for so long but I just didn't have the guts. And I am sorry for today. Please believe me I wasn't trying to kill myself. You have to believe me." he pleaded.

"I believe you weren't trying to commit suicide and I am grateful you asked for my help at the last minute but you have to explain to me what you were trying to accomplish." Don's voice grew stern.

Colby shrugged.

"That is not an answer young man."

"But I don't know." Colby insisted.

At these words Don pulled him up halfway and planted two smacks on his backside

"That I don't believe. Tell me why you took all these pills and thought it was a good idea to mix them with alcohol." Don demanded sternly putting his agent back on the bed.

Colby tried to hide his face in Don's chest again, "I really don't know."

Don sighed and quickly pulled the young man over his knees properly. Alternating left and right cheek he gave Colby a quick but not too painful spanking. After about 15 spanks he equally quickly sat his agent up again but held him at arms length to look him straight in the eyes.

"Not good enough Colby. You'll have to do better."

Although this was by far a hard spanking Colby was crying again. He looked at the bed instead of Don and just barely whispered, "I … I just wanted to stop feeling."

"Stop feeling what?" Don asked softy.

"Everything. The last weeks were horrible. I feel so guilty and ashamed and I thought you all hated me and wanted to get rid of me." Colby's sobbing increased.

Don pulled him back into a hug, "Ssh, it's ok. I promise you things will get better. Maybe not tomorrow but in the end everything will be fine again. I am right here and I am not going anywhere and the others aren't going anywhere either. We'll deal with this and we'll move past it."

After a couple minutes the young agent quieted down again and looked up at his boss and mentor, "Are you really going to do what you said you would?" he asked with an expression that displayed pure dread as well as hope. Intuitively he understood that his boss "dealing with him" would be painful but in the end help make things right.

"Honestly, I am not so sure." Don answered with a frown.

Colby looked at him surprised.

Don sighed, "Colby, I want you to be really honest with me. Did you know that you put yourself in danger by taking pills and alcohol?"

The young agent looked at him for a moment before slowly nodding his head.

"And you knew that you'd be in big trouble with me if I found out – especially after what happened last time?" Don continued seriously.

A new wave of tears made their way down Colby's cheeks, "I didn't think you still cared."

Don tightened his hug and fought some tears of his own. "I am sorry you felt this way but you knew that if you had pulled this stunt before the Janus list you'd end up getting a serious spanking, right?"

Colby nodded without hesitation.

"Ok, well you were wrong. I still care. I care very much. And since you knew that putting your life in danger is not acceptable I will do exactly what I threatened you with." Don took a determined breath, "Actually, I am not entirely sure about the 'not sitting' part but you will get a spanking that will make all the others seem like nothing and afterwards there will be bedtime spankings. Additionally, you can consider yourself grounded. For a few weeks I will not let you out of my sight."

Colby's stomach filled with dread, "Will you let the others watch?" he asked shyly.

"No, I won't." Don soothed him, "I should not have said that. I was mad that you tried to sign yourself out and I am not sure how to deal with that yet but nobody will be watching or even listening, ok?"

"Ok" the young agent answered thankfully.

"Now, how about we put the question of punishment out of our minds until it's time?" Don proposed, "For now I just want you to relax and feel better."

"So what is going to happen next?" Colby inquired, "How long do I have to stay?"

"Well the doctor said he'd discharge you tomorrow morning if you had someone stay with you. So I want you to live at my Dad's for the next two weeks at least. I will stay there as well. We'll talk as much as you need to and you'll have company when you have trouble sleeping. You'll learn to live without the pills and we'll deal with your punishment. If you can be trusted again I will let you go back to your own apartment after that but you'll still be grounded for another two weeks – meaning you'll go to work and have dinner with us whenever you want but no other activities outside of that." Don explained seriously.

Colby's face fell at the thought of being supervised like a child.

"And there is more," Don added, "I know you have declined the psych eval Dr. Montgomery recommended. That is only okay if you agree to talk to Doctor Greene."

"Dr. Greene? You want me to talk to the FBI shrink? No way in hell! You can't make me do that." Colby protested.

"Young man, you are in enough trouble as it is. I'd suggest you watch your tone with me unless you want to go over my knee again right now." Don threatened.

"Sorry Don," Colby replied contritely. "But do I really have to talk to him? Would he not put stuff in my file?"

Don smiled at him a little, "Only if I fill out official papers requesting a psych eval for you, which I don't intend on doing. I really just want you to talk to him."

"Oh," Colby realized that even now Don would not do anything that could hurt his career.

"Listen Colby," Don added, "Dr. Greene is a great older gentleman. He helped me a lot during the time when my mom was sick and my Dad just devastated. Charlie was so withdrawn from the world back then and I had the feeling it was my job to hold everything together. Dr. Greene would invite me to have lunch with him making it sound like he wanted company and before I knew it he really helped me cope - and all of that without any official protocol or anything. He'll do the same for you. I think it's important for you to speak to a professional. Dr. Greene can help you in a way I can't. Do you understand that?"

Colby nodded, "Okay," He was thankful that his boss shared such a personal piece of information with him. Obviously Don really did still trust him and regarded him as a friend.

"Alright," Don smiled at him, "Are you ready for the others to come back? They probably want to see for themselves that I didn't kill you."

Colby smiled back shyly – probably the first smile Don had seen on him in weeks – and said "Sure, I'd like to apologize."

Don looked at his agent with pride before heading outside and motioning for the others to come back in. True to his words the first thing Colby did was to apologize for scaring them both by landing himself in the hospital and by trying to sign himself out. He blushed and avoided everybody's eyes but his apology was made in a strong, genuine tone.

Megan rushed to her 'little brothers' side to assure him of her forgiveness. After Colby fought her hugs of a bit embarrassed and received a clap on the shoulder from Charlie he looked at David expecting forgiveness to be a lot harder to come by from this side. But to his own surprise David held out his hand and said, "It's okay. I am sure the boss has consequences for you in store and I don't disagree with him but I for my part will not hold any grudges any longer. I am glad you are okay."

Colby thankfully accepted David's hand knowing that his team mate was not just talking about the events of the day.


	3. Chapter 3

**Part 3**

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_Okay, there is some David & Don in this part. I haven't written about these two before and the characters don't really lend themselves to this type of story but I thought at some point David needs to be "part of the family" ;o). If you don't like this then hopefully you'll like the next. It'll be all Colby and Don._

_As always thanks for the kind reviews. It makes me happy to read them._

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The next morning Don picked Colby up from the hospital and brought him to the Eppes house. He had already gotten a bunch of Colby's stuff and put it in the guest room to make the younger man feel at home.

"Do you want to have breakfast or did you get enough at the hospital?" he asked.

Colby looked at him sheepishly, "Breakfast would be nice. I didn't eat at the hospital. But don't you have to go to work?"

"I took the week of – someone needs to keep you out of trouble." Don responded with a grin.

Colby blushed in surprise and embarrassment. He could not believe that Don would spend his precious vacation days on him. "But that is really not necessary. I promise I'll be good."

"Colby, I want to be here with you. And I was just joking - this isn't really about keeping you out of trouble or supervising your grounding. I want us to spend some time together and get back to normal, ok?" Don explained. Colby gave him a grateful smile in return. It was nice to feel wanted again.

Don continued, "Now, how about I make us some eggs and then you can take a nap or spend some time up here reading. Dr. Greene will be here in the early afternoon."

Colby's face fell. "Do I really have to talk to Dr. Greene?" he whined, "I don't want to and I don't need to either. I already feel much better."

"I am glad to hear you feel better." Don's voice grew stern. "But yes you have to talk to Dr. Greene until HE tells me you don't need to."

"That is so unfair. I am a grown man after all." The young agent grumbled petulantly.

The team lead just looked at him with a raised eye brow, "Uh huh. This is not up for discussion."

"But Don …" Colby tried to protest again but was cut of by Don spinning him around and placing a couple smacks on his behind. "It's enough. You have one choice only. You can speak to Dr. Greene or you can speak to Dr. Greene with a sore backside. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir. I speak to him." Colby replied contritely.

"Wise choice. But make no mistake. If I hear that you are not cooperating with him or if I get the sense you are lying to the doctor you will answer to me. I hope I made myself clear." Don wanted to make sure his agent got some professional help.

"Yes sir." Colby repeated.

"Alright, then let's go have breakfast."

The morning went well in the Eppes household. After a nice long breakfast which Colby and Don used to talk about a lot of things that had nothing to do with their troubles of the recent weeks Colby indeed took a nap until Dr. Greene arrived.

After speaking to the young agent for two hours the Doctor asked Don for a word.

"Is he okay?" Don inquired worriedly.

"Yes, I just wanted to let you know whatever you and your team did in the last 24 hours already worked wonders. He is on his way to getting better. I had a long talk with him about medication dependencies and alcohol and we laid down some ground rules you should be aware of. I gave him some things to read on the subject and I am sure he'll share that with you. We made an agreement that there will be no alcohol for him for at least 8 weeks. Also he will go off all the meds immediately besides one which we adjust to a lower dosage for three days before taking him off. You can expect some nightmares and insomnia but in a week or so that should all start getting better. Just let him rest during the day if he doesn't get enough sleep at night and do the same yourself." The doctor explained.

"Oh good." Don sighed in relief.

The doctor continued, "So how are you doing?"

"Drained I guess and … I don't know," Don answered, "I just wish he was feeling better and we could all go back to the way things were. And even more I wish I could get around punishing him. He's been through so much – we all have."

"I understand that, Don. But you and I know that Mr. Granger needs to feel sufficiently punished in order to forgive himself and move on. He expects a hard punishment and deep down he knows he's been pushing for it." the doctor responded.

"I know," Don sighed, "When do you think we can do it? If I have to do it then I'd rather get it over with."

"In my eyes there is no need to wait. He is physically recovered from yesterday's events and his emotional recovery will be helped in the long run." Seeing the look in Don's eyes the Doctor continued. "You are doing the right thing. Let that help you through this and call me if you need me. If you don't then I'd like to come back in a couple days to see how things are progressing.

"Sounds good. Thanks for coming over." Don walked the Doctor to the front door before going upstairs to see his agent.

Colby was in his room reading in Dr. Greene's material.

"Hey, how did it go?" Don asked.

"Alright. He was nice. And he gave me all this stuff about dependencies and things. I guess you want to have a look at this too?"

"Yes, I do. And thank you for talking to Dr. Greene." Don responded.

"It's not like I had much of a choice." Colby answered with a little grin obviously not holding a grudge.

"No, I guess you didn't." Don laughed.

The rest of the afternoon the two men read through the Doctor's information and talked a lot. Still feeling a bit emotionally raw Colby told Don very openly how he started to take more and more pills and mix them and how that had numbed the pain and emotions and allowed him to sleep. Don's heart went out to the younger man.

Later they had dinner with Alan, Charlie and David who came to visit. After dinner David asked if he could speak to Colby in private which they did for the next two hours. Don never knew what had been said between the two friends but he figured that David apologized and that the two of them somehow made up. When David came back downstairs he found Don by himself – Charlie having to go back into the office to finish some work and Alan being out on a date.

"How did it go?" Don inquired.

"Good, I think. He was pretty tired and is sleeping now." David sat down with a sigh.

"And how are you feeling?"

"I don't know. I am glad he forgave me and I am happy that I don't feel angry at him anymore but I still feel bad for what I did. I let him believe that I hated him and I could see what it did to him the whole time. I just wanted him to suffer for betraying our friendship and I didn't care how much he was hurting." David responded sadly.

Before Don could say anything David took a deep breath and very quickly continued, "And I feel rotten that he is going to be spanked while at least part of this is my fault. I am really sorry. You said yesterday that you think I deserve to be punished and I just wanted to let you know that I'll accept whatever you think is fair."

Don looked at his agent flabbergasted. He had been disappointed the previous day but he had definitely not planned on punishing David. Actually he had never imagined to be in a situation where he'd have to do more than mildly reprimand David who could normally be trusted to follow the rules and stay out of trouble. Very hesitantly he said, "Are you sure this is what you want?"

David nodded with a miserable look on his face. The team lead could tell that his agent felt incredibly guilty and probably needed to feel like he had paid some sort of price before he and Colby could really go back to being friends on equal terms. So the team lead nodded with a heavy heart and said, "Ok, just go to the den and wait for me there."

A few minutes later Don entered the den ping pong paddle in hand. He closed the door and went to his agent. "Are you absolutely sure about this? You have apologized and made up with Colby and I won't think any less of you if you walk out of here now."

With a shake of his head David just said, "I am sure."

"Ok, I am very proud of you for admitting your mistake and for accepting the consequences." With these words Don beckoned his agent to stand up and follow him to the back of the couch. There he instructed him bend over but allowed him to keep his clothes in place. Don figured that his proud agent would respond better to this style punishment than to being put over his bosses' knees.

David complied embarrassed but without protest. Putting a hand on the agent's lower back Don moved close to his left side to provide some contact and stability before starting the spanking with his open hand.

**SPANK SPANK SPANK SPANK SPANK**

His hand landed rhythmically all up and down David's butt - even though this was only the warm up he spanked hard wanting to keep this punishment as short as possible. David could not believe how much Don's hand stung after a while even on his slacks. But he knew he had been out of line and was determined to take his punishment.

Don continued his steady hand spanking for about two minutes. By that time David started having trouble staying completely still and started to squirm slightly

Getting the first reaction out of his agent Don grabbed the ping pong paddle he had placed on the couch. David was too concentrated on his smarting backside to see what was going on but he knew what was happening and tried to steel himself.

When Don started spanking him with the ping pong paddle he could not help grasping with every swat. This hurt so much worse than just the hand spanking.

Don decided to drive the point home with a dozen hard swats to David's undercurve and a little lecture, "You know" **SMACK** "why we are here" **SMACK** "You do not" **SMACK** "treat your friends" **SMACK** "this way" **SMACK** "or anybody else" **SMACK** "for that matter" **SMACK** "I hope" **SMACK** "we don't have to" **SMACK** "repeat this ever again" **SMACK** **SMACK** **SMACK**

A few tears made their way down David's cheeks by the time Don was done but otherwise he was still in control. Don put the paddle aside and helped his agent up. Sensing that David would not appreciate too much contact at this point he just gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze and then left the room to give him some time to compose himself.

A couple minutes later Don came back with two beers and asked David to sit down on the couch next to him.

David looked skeptical but didn't dare to disagree so he sat down gingerly.

"You okay?" Don asked. David just shrugged.

"Okay, I guess that is good enough for now. Just listen to me for a moment. You have been punished and we won't speak of what happened again. Colby has forgiven you and I hope you have too. I am glad the two of you worked it out and I am still very proud that you came to me and accepted your punishment like you did." Don told him genuinely.

Two more tears made their way down David's face at the praise and he looked away embarrassed. Don pulled him into a quick side hug. "It's okay. There is no shame in crying. Trust me, I have done my fair share." He said with a little smile.

"YOU?" David asked disbelievingly. Don nodded still smiling a bit, "Sure. And if I pulled a stunt like the ones Colby seems to be getting into lately I'm not sure my Dad nor his friend our esteemed director would hesitate to dish out the same medicine."

David didn't really believe him but laughed a little at the thought and instantly felt better. The two of them shared some beers and talked about the events surrounding Colby with a sense of hope to be able to go back to being something like a family – though Don knew that his youngest agent still had some ways to go. And he wasn't wrong. A couple hours later Don woke up from a horrible scream out of Colby's room.

He rushed over there with Charlie on his heels. Colby was sitting up in the bed sobbing obviously just woken from a horrible nightmare. Don sat down next to him and pulled him into a hug. "It's okay. I have got you. It was just a dream."

It took less than a minute for Colby to calm down but he was wide awake now and feeling very embarrassed about acting like a child. "It's okay. You can go to bed. I'll be fine." He tried to shoo the brothers away. They looked at each other.

"No way," Charlie said, "I am staying here till you go back to sleep."

Don looked at his brother proudly, "Well I guess it's a slumber party now," He grinned, "Why don't I go get us something to drink and maybe a video to watch. He turned to Colby, "Even though young man you should know that videos are not a usual part of being grounded in this house."

Colby blushed a bit. "Can I help you?" he asked. Don sensed that his agent wanted to tell him something and nodded. "Sure. Charlie, maybe you can get pillows and blankets?"

Don and Colby went downstairs and while Don got soft drinks he could see the internal struggle in Colby. "Just spit it out," he tried to help his agent along.

"Well … I just … I just wanted to know … when you are going to punish me?" Colby looked embarrassed at the floor.

Don looked at him. He should have seen this coming. Instead of an answer he asked back, "Do you want to get it over with or would you rather wait a couple days?"

Colby looked at him surprised at the choice, "Get it over with I guess."

Don sighed. "Ok, then we'll get started tomorrow afternoon."

Colby just hung his head but said softly, "Ok."

"Now let's go see if we find a movie you like and try to forget about punishments." Don proposed putting an arm around his youngest agent's shoulders.

And that is what they did. But there wasn't much sleep to come by for the rest of the night – at least for Colby and Don – Charlie fell asleep curled up on the floor sometime during the first movie whereas the other two watched two more before falling into a light slumber.


	4. Chapter 4

**Part 4**

_xxx_

_Sorry this took so long. I have had trouble signing in for the last few days._

_This chapter is a bit harsher than what I usually like to write but I thought it fits. Hope you like it._

_xxx_

When Charlie woke up the next morning, he quietly left the room letting his brother and friend sleep. Don and Colby woke up to an empty house at 11 am. After taking showers Don had to coerce Colby into eating some breakfast – the younger man clearly preoccupied with his impending punishment.

Afterwards Don gave Colby a choice, "Okay, you can either go to your room or you can stay in the kitchen to help me prepare some stuff for tonight. Megan and David are coming over."

Colby paled at the thought of having to sit through a dinner after the punishment Don had promised him. "But why do they have to come this evening?" He whined, "I don't want to see them tonight. It isn't fair to make me s … ," he did not finish his sentence.

"I understand but I think it will be good for all of us to spend some time together." The older agent tried to calm him down.

"But I don't want to. Do you have to control everything and everyone?" the young man knew he was pushing Don but it just seemed so unfair to him.

"Colby, it's enough. They are coming and you will have dinner with all of us. End of discussion." The young agent failed to recognize that his bosses tone threatened dire consequences if he continued to argue and said as petulantly as he could, "That just sucks. I am going to my room."

But Don wasn't having it. He grabbed Colby's arm and dragged him into a corner of the dining area where he could see the stubborn young man from the kitchen, "That choice is not yours anymore. You'll be standing here nose in the corner until it's time for your punishment. I suggest you think about what you did." To emphasize his words he planted two smacks on the younger mans backside, "And don't you dare to move."

Don went back to the kitchen and started dinner preparations.

Colby could not believe the position he found himself in again. He hated being put in a corner. He didn't understand why Don had invited the team to dinner tonight. It was just cruel. If he really was going to spank him as hard as he'd said how could he expect Colby to sit all evening? It took him almost an hour to calm down and stop thinking about it. His thoughts turned to much more pressing matters. He was grateful that Don had decided to punish him in private but he still dreaded it. "Blistering until you cannot sit for two days" wasn't something he was familiar with and maybe it wasn't meant all that literal but one thing was for sure – this spanking would be worse than all the others. But all the others had been bad enough so Colby did not know how he'd be able to deal with something worse. Tears started to form in his eyes. Trying to keep his panic in check he forced his thoughts onto being happy about working things out with David the night before. Slowly Colby calmed down and just wondered how long Don would make him stand in the corner.

While cooking Don had kept a close eye on his charge and unbeknownst to the younger man observed the emotions he went through. Finally when Colby seemed calm Don took a deep breath and decided to get this over.

"Okay kid. Go on up to your room. I'll be there in a minute." He instructed.

Colby's inside turned to ice but he did as he was told.

Don came in a few minutes later and found Colby sitting on the bed. The young agent paled when he saw a leather belt in Don's hand. But the belt was put on the desk for now and Don quickly made his way to his agent and had him stand up.

"Why are you getting this punishment, Colby?" he asked while pulling the younger man over his knees and taking his sweatpants down.

"Because I took pills I knew I shouldn't have and mixed them with alcohol." Colby responded immediately.

Don started swatting the backside in front of him. He didn't use too much force just wanting to provide a good warm up for the time being.

"And why is that not okay?" He inquired.

"Because something could have happened to me and the team would have been left one man short." Colby started gasping a little as his backside stung from the steady spanks Don dished out.

"And …?" Don prompted.

But Colby didn't answer. Instead he started squirming.

"Colby…" Don's tone grew more stern. His agent was either stubborn or still not getting it. He increased the force of the swats and concentrated on Colby's sit spot.

Still not getting a response Don stopped spanking for a moment and took his agent's boxer shorts down continuing with hard spanks on Colby's bare backside.

"Ow, stop" **SPANK** "Please" **SPANK** "Don" **SPANK** Colby protested.

"Colby" **SPANK** "we'll do this" **SPANK** "until you answer" **SPANK** "my question fully" **SPANK** "what would it have meant" **SPANK** "for the people who care about you if" **SPANK** "something happened to you?" **SPANK**

"I don't know," Colby started crying. In truth he just didn't want to admit it. After weeks of thinking the team didn't care for him anymore it was confusing to accept that he had been wrong.

Don sighed, stopped the spanking immediately and fixed Colby's clothes. He pulled his stunned agent to his feet and marched him into the corner. "I want you to stand here and really think," He instructed strictly, "When I come back I want an answer. How would Megan, Charlie, David and I have felt if something had happened to you? We have talked a lot about this and I know David talked to you yesterday. And our actions should have shown you what you mean to us and what loosing you would mean. But until you get that through your thick head all these punishments are useless. Use your time wisely." With these words Don turned and left the room.

Colby could not help crying. The spanking had not been all that painful but the sudden end and being put into the corner again was confusing. Don was clearly upset and Colby did only half understand why. It took him a few minutes to calm down and try to think about what Don wanted to hear. He started getting scared that if he did not give the right answer Don would just give up on him. But then he remembered all the times Don had assured him he would not ever do that. The young agent knew he just had to admit what he already knew in his heart.

Fifteen minutes later Don came back and went straight to his agent in the corner, "Tell me why Colby."

Silent tears made their way down Colby's face, "You all would have been sad if something had happened to me because you want me around."

Don smiled. That was a start. "Yes Colby," He said softly, "and not just that. We would have been devastated. You are important to all of us. Loosing you is just not an option. That's why I need to make sure you are not taking any foolish risks with your life again. Do you understand?"

Colby nodded.

"Ok, just stay put for a second." Don instructed patting Colby's shoulder.

The young agent could hear some scraping noises but did not dare to look until Don said, "Alright, come here."

Turning around Colby immediately knew what Don had in mind. The armchair that typically stood in a corner was turned around so that its back faced the room. Don stood next to it belt in hand. Colby paled and just shook his head no. There was no way he could walk over there and bent himself over that armchair for Don to whip his butt.

"Colby, to me" Don ordered strictly but the agent could not move.

"Don't make this harder on yourself than it has to be." Don warned.

Colby made two insecure steps but then fear took over and he just stood there.

Don sighed and walked over to the younger man. He knew he was making this very hard for Colby but he wanted him to accept responsibility for putting his life in danger – and more than that he wanted to never have to do this again. "Listen, I promise it will be okay. I want you to go over there, take your pants down and lean over the back of the chair."

Still there was no response and Don gave it one last try. "Ok, if you look me in the eye and honestly tell me that you don't deserve this I will reconsider."

Colby looked at him with hope in his eyes but immediately realized that he'd be unable to do that. Dropping his gaze to the floor he started moving towards the arm chair.

Once there Don put his hand on Colby's back and turned him a bit to look at him. "I am very proud of you."

That gave Colby the courage to take his own pants down and bend over the chair holding on to the seat. He swore to himself to never mess up bad enough to have to repeat this. He had always thought that being put over his boss's knees and having his pants taken down for him like a naughty child was horrible. But to submit to his punishment like this and not feel the support of being held on Don's lap was just so much worse. He started to cry a little in shame and fear.

Don sighed again and decided to just get it over with quickly. He placed his hand on the younger man's back and quickly landed the first lick on the center of Colby's backside. Colby could hear the loud smack before his butt exploded with pain. He barely had time to yelp before the second lick followed slightly lower than the first.

Colby could not believe how much worse the belt hurt and he still had his boxers on which he did not think would stay in place.

Don continued to spank Colby in a steady rhythm. He placed each lick lower than the previous one all the way down to the middle of the agent's tights. By the time he got there, Colby was crying heavily. Don felt horrible but he had to seal his heart against the younger man's distress. He needed to make this spanking memorable. After the first set, he stopped for a moment to give his youngest some time to get his breathing under control and lower his boxers.

Colby felt his underwear being taken down and tried to stop it with his right hand. But Don had been expecting something like this and just took the hand and pinned it to the small of his back – giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"Please Don. Don't. I can't …" Colby protested sobbing hard.

"Ssh. It's ok. You know why you deserve this. I never want to have to spank you for putting your life in unnecessary danger again." Don responded soothingly.

Taking a deep breath he started the second set of licks right on top of the first – again from the middle of Colby's backside down to his mid-thighs. Colby was sobbing hard and each smack was met with a howl of pain. He had long since collapsed on the chair back not trying to support himself anymore. Don could see angry red stripes forming but he was very careful to not break any skin.

Originally he had intended to give Colby three sets with the belt but seeing his agent's reaction he couldn't bring himself to do it. So after the second set he put the belt aside and continued spanking Colby with his hand. He still did not say anything knowing his youngest would not be able to follow a lecture.

The hand spanks on top of the belt just spread out the heat and pain. All Colby could do was lie there limply, sobbing and accepting Don's punishment without a fight. He felt truly chastised. Finally Don decided that Colby had had enough and finished the spanking with 5 hard swats to his sit spot.

Colby did not realize that the spanking had stopped for a few minutes. Don just rubbed soothing circles on his back and murmured words of forgiveness in his ear. As Colby quieted down a bit Don pulled his boxers up which was met with a hiss of pain even though he had tried to be careful. Then he just pulled his sweat pants completely off and helped Colby stand up before guiding him over to his bed. Laying him down on his stomach Don continued to sooth the crying young man. After a while Don could see Colby's eye lids dropping and just let him drift off to sleep. Their talk could wait until later.

Two hours later he was just putting the finishing touches on his dinner preparations he could hear a yelp and a thud coming from Colby's room. Taking two steps up the stairs at once he got there quickly and found his agent kneeling next to the bed.

After he had helped him up Colby just glared at him, "I tried to sit up."

Don grimaced, "Ouch."

Colby had folded his arms and continued to stare at him moodily.

"Do you need the bathroom and a shower before we talk?" Don tried to diffuse the situation.

"I don't need anything. Thank you very much." Colby snapped at him sarcastically.

Don stepped close to his agent looking him straight in the eyes and lectured. "You better not be sulking because you got a punishment you deserved. I suggest you go take a shower and leave the attitude behind. Otherwise you can go right back over my knees before we talk."

Colby just turned on his heels and stormed out of the room. He knew he was out of line. Don had warned him what would happen if he endangered his life again and he knew he deserved it. But waking up drowsily he had for a moment forgotten about the punishment and when his backside hit the mattress the pain was unbelievable.

In the bathroom he looked at his butt in the mirror and was surprised that it didn't look nearly as bad as it felt. You could see dark red stripes but no blisters or welts or broken skin at all.

After 30 minutes he came out and found Don waiting in his room.

"Are you feeling better?" the older agent asked.

Colby nodded. "Yes, sorry for giving you a hard time earlier. I know I deserved what I got."

Don looked at him with pride and smiled, "I am glad to hear it." Then he handed Colby some lotion, "Put this on. It should help a little. I'll be right back," and left the room.

Colby did what he was told, skeptical that it would work but thankful that Don tried to make him feel better. His boss came back just a few minutes later holding an icepack in his hands.

"Alright lay back down on the bed." He instructed and when Colby complied placed the ice on his backside.

"So is there anything you want to talk about?" Don started of after pulling up a chair next to the bed. Colby just shrugged.

"Okay then let me make sure you got the full message. You have long been forgiven for the things that happened in the past few months. And now it is important for you to forgive yourself. I am not giving up on you nor will you be abandoned by any of us. We are still your family and would like to go back to the way things were. You are important to me and everyone on this team. All of us would be devastated if we lost you. Do you understand?" Don asked intensely.

Silent tears were falling down his agent's cheeks. Nodding he whispered, "Thank you."

Don pulled the younger man into a hug, "I meant every word. And this also means if you put your life at risk again you can expect the same treatment. I hope we'll never have to repeat this, Colby."

"Me too." Colby let out a rueful smile between his tears, "Are you still going to do the other thing you said?"

"What other thing?" Don asked innocently.

Colby blushed, "You know. The other spankings."

Don sighed, "Yes. Though dependent on what your butt looks like I may put it off for two days instead of starting tomorrow. But then you will go over my knees for a bare bottom spanking every night before bed for a week. However, these spankings will be nothing compared to the one you got today and even lighter than your normal ones." Don tried to calm his agent's nerves.

Seeing his agent look upset he added with feeling, "Colby, I know this is a lot of punishment but I hope it deters you from ever doing something this foolish again. Okay?"

Colby nodded in acceptance.

"Alright, you have one more hour to do what you want up here and then you are expected downstairs for dinner." Don changed the subject.

"Don, please," Colby pleaded, "Don't make me sit through dinner. I can't. My butt hurts too much. And I don't want to see anybody today. Please let me stay up here. I am not hungry anyway."

Don's tone grew weary, "This isn't up for discussion. You are to come down in an hour and spend time with us. I invited them for a reason. I want you to feel the support of your family tonight. Besides ..." he added with a small smile, "Megan and David have been calling nonstop tonight. There is no way I could keep these two away until they are satisfied that you are alright."

"Oh," was Colby's surprised response. He still didn't think he could sit through dinner but it made him feel good to hear Don's intentions behind the evening and that his teammates were checking up on him. Maybe the older agent would allow him to stand during the meal.

An hour later when Colby walked stiffly down the stairs his face lit up at the scene in front of him. All the chairs had been put aside and Don had prepared a buffet for dinner – so everybody was standing. He should have known that Don would not make him suffer. He shot the man he had become to regard as a mixture of an older brother and mentor a grateful look. Don just nodded smiling.

The evening did exactly what Don had hoped for. Colby had conversations with each of his teammates, Charlie and even Alan. They all reassured him that he'd been forgiven and after the punishment he had just received Colby was ready to accept their forgiveness. As the evening wore on some of that old banter and joking returned together with a sense of normalcy.

Over the next 2 weeks everybody fell into a rhythm. Megan and David came to visit as often as they could. Don and sometimes Charlie stayed up with Colby at night when he could not sleep and during the day Don stayed home and kept the younger man company. He gave up all pretenses that movies or trips to the golf course or the occasional afternoon at the beach were not really supposed to be part of being grounded. Don did whatever got a smile out of "the kid". One thing he did not give up on however were the promised bedtime spankings.

So every night around 10 pm Don sent Colby upstairs to get ready for bed. A few minutes later the young man would find himself face down over Don's lap getting a spanking on his bare backside that caused quite a bit of squirming and stinging but wasn't enough to cause more than a few tears. Colby hated it and toyed with the idea of begging Don to stop every day. Don hated it no less and considered letting his surrogate 'little brother' off the hook multiple times. But neither said a word believing this was something they needed to see through.

Once it was over however both of them were incredibly relieved and just enjoyed hanging out together and with the team – something for which Megan teased both of them mercilessly claiming that Don was much stricter during the time she was grounded.

When Colby finally moved back to his own apartment – not without a set of rules from Don – the older agent figured there might still be some bumps in the road ahead of them but on the whole things seemed to be back to normal.


	5. Chapter 5

**Part 5**

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_This is the final part of this story. I am not sure what to write about next but I'll find something - I am open to suggestions as well especially from all those of you who have reviewed so much. _

_I hope you like this part._

_xxx_

"No, Colby. I am sorry but you are staying home tonight." Don had a hard time keeping his tone even. For the past five minutes Colby had been asking him for an exception to his grounding to a friend's birthday party at a bar that night.

But the young man wasn't giving up that easily, "Come on, Don, please. You can't make me stay at home all the time. I am going crazy."

"Kid, you cannot claim that your grounding has been all that hard so far. You and I have done a bunch of stuff but today you are not going." Don tried to reason with him.

"But that is so unfair. You let Megan go out without you around even though she was grounded." Colby whined.

"You really want to bring that up as an argument to let you go?" Don asked incredulous remembering the trouble that had ensued, "Besides it was different."

"How was it different? She was grounded and you allowed her to go to the movies with me for 2 hours and I am grounded and just want to go to a birthday party for two hours." The young agent sounded seriously frustrated.

Don sighed in exasperation, "Colby, you guys went on a Saturday afternoon when we were off work. Not on a Friday night after a twelve hour surveillance shift when you have to be back at 6 AM for another one the next morning. You need rest and sleep. Just accept it. My decision is final."

The team had been on surveillance for the past 2 days to try and stop a major drug deal from going down. They knew the location and players involved but did not have enough evidence to make arrests without catching them in the act. So far Don had led Colby team up with David during the day shift while taking over the night shift together with Megan. He figured the two guys could use some quiet time to really rebuild their friendship.

The problem with that was that he couldn't keep as close of an eye on Colby as he wanted to. The young agent had moved back into his own apartment a few days earlier after staying with the Eppes men for two weeks. He seemed to be doing well but nonetheless Don would have liked to spend more time with him. The team lead seriously hoped for this drug deal to happen soon.

Apparently Colby was not in a very agreeable mood. Angrily he just about stomped his foot and continued to argue, "I am only talking about an hour or two. I'll still get sleep. You can't … ."

Don decided that this had gone too far and stopped the young man mid-rant. He grabbed Colby by the upper arm and dragged him away from his stunned teammates into another room of the small 3-bedroom home they used to watch the drug house. After closing the door he positioned himself right in front of his youngest agent grabbing him by the shoulders and giving him a little shake, "What is going on with you?" He asked as calmly as he could, "You know that throwing a tantrum is not getting you anywhere but in trouble with me. I suggest you stop right now and go home without any more discussion."

Colby realized that he was very close to crossing the line with Don but he couldn't bring himself to give in. So he just crossed his arms in front of his chest and looked away – the picture of an angry teenager.

Don sighed and continued a bit more kindly, "Look Colby, I understand why you really want to go. With our jobs in general and after the things that happened with you in the last few months it must be difficult to hold on to friendships outside of work. I get it. But tonight is just not a good time. You are worn out and you need to get some rest – I need you back here in less than 12 hours and you need to be alert to do your job."

Colby's anger subsided a bit at the understanding tone but it certainly wasn't gone. So he just uncrossed his arms and said sarcastically, "Fine. I'll stay home like a good little boy." and turned to leave.

"Hey kid, are you not sleeping well again? Do you want to come back to stay with us a few more days?" Don called after him in one last try to smother things over.

"No, I am fine." was the only answer he got before Colby was out of the door.

Don sighed and went back to his other two agents in the main room who looked at him worriedly. He flashed them a fake smile, "He'll be fine. David, head on home, you have been here long enough. We'll see you in the morning."

David looked at him skeptically, "Sure, boss. See you."

After he left Megan turned to him and asked dismayed, "Is Colby in trouble?"

The team lead shook his head seriously, "Not if he listens and stays home tonight. But I want us to check the location of his cell later."

"Ok." Megan answered wondering if her 'little brother' would have the common sense to obey Don. But when they checked a few hours later it seemed like her worries were unnecessary. Colby's cell phone showed him as being at home.

After another uneventful night Don considered asking Director Merrick for back up from another team. There was no telling how many more days this would go on. At 6 am his cell phone rang. Checking the caller ID he shot Megan a puzzled look as he answered, "Hi David. Are you okay?"

"Hi Don, yes everything is fine. I picked Colby up this morning and uh … sorry but we are running late … I didn't expect traffic at this time on a Saturday. Uhm … it might take us another fifteen minutes."

His agent sounded a bit insecure but Don figured he might just be apprehensive about his boss's reaction. So he just said, "No problem. Everything is quiet here. We'll hold down the fort until you two arrive."

"Thanks boss."

When the two agents walked in some 20 minutes later Don instantly realized that David hadn't been afraid of his reaction to their tardiness. David had been lying to him – lying to protect Colby.

His youngest agent looked terrible. His eyes were blood shot, his face pale and sick looking and he walked somewhat unsteadily. His hair was wet so he obviously had just gotten out of the shower and despite the usage of massive amounts of mouthwash the team lead could smell the faint aroma of alcohol and cigarettes.

Don looked from Colby to David and back frowning, "Anything you want to tell me?" he asked as in a deadly quiet voice.

Both agents avoided eye contact and while Colby shook his head David bravely tried to do damage control, "Uh … boss, I think he is sick."

"Do you really want to lie twice to me in the span of thirty minutes, David?" Don asked with barely contained anger.

"Uhm … ," David didn't have an answer.

The team lead decided to move this along. He gave David a little nudge towards the main room, "Go and take over the monitors. Send Megan here in five minutes."

While David was on his way Don turned to his youngest agent, "Now I'd strongly advise you to be honest. Did you go to that party I told you not to?"

Colby felt way too hung over to lie and realized that Don had figured it out anyway so he just nodded and whispered, "I am sorry."

"Not as sorry as you are going to be, little boy," Don had a hard time not to give in to the impulse to put the wayward young man over his knee right then and there but he kept his temper in check and continued, "So this is what is going to happen. Megan will take you to your apartment. You will pack enough clothes to last you at least three days and then you'll go to the house. There you can take a nap and we'll deal with this later. And don't you dare argue with me about this."

Colby nodded his head but still would not meet Don's eyes, "Yes, sir."

As Megan joined the two Don asked her to take Colby. She agreed looking worried and the two agents left.

Don took a deep breath and turned to the main room. He forcefully opened the door and could see David involuntarily ducking his head. Rather aggressively he asked the younger man, "So did you disagree with me yesterday when I told Colby he could not go to that party?"

"No I didn't." David answered instantaneously glad that looking as the monitors provided him with a good reason not to look at his boss.

"Why did you lie for him then?" Don asked sternly.

David cringed inwardly. He knew how Don felt about lying. "I am sorry. I am not sure why. I guess I just didn't want to be the one to blow the whistle."

The team lead sighed and continued more calmly, "I get that, David. But you aren't doing him a favor. He was overwrought when he left and he should not drink right now anyhow. And he certainly shouldn't disobey the people who have his best interests at heart."

"I know." David admitted quietly.

"Alright, consider this your last 'get out of jail free card'. Even protecting your friends only gets you so far. Got it?" Don really hoped he would not have to have this discussion with David again.

"Got it. I am really sorry." The younger agent apologized again relieved that Don was letting him off the hook.

"I know." His boss started smiling a bit to David's surprise, "and maybe the whole fiasco will lead to one good thing."

"What is that?" the younger agent asked puzzled.

"I am going to call Director Merrick to see if someone else can take over this case. It's a waste of time for our team to be sitting here for god knows how many more days. We should really be getting two days off and then work on other cases. And now that Colby is 'unavailable' and I not up for a second 12 hour shift I have an excuse for making the switch." Don smirked a bit more.

David smiled back at him. He really hated surveillance, even though he had to admit that this time it had been nice to spend some time with Colby.

After speaking with Director Merrick Don was surprised once again how quickly his boss could make things happen. An hour later another team was at the house and 90 minutes after that they had been briefed fully and Don and David were on their way out. By now it was just after 9:30 am on Saturday morning which would still give them almost two full days off before they had to be back at the office on Monday.

But Don knew that he had to deal with his youngest agent's latest stunt before he got to enjoy some free time and he really needed some rest before doing that. So he was glad that Colby was fast asleep in his room when he got home and there was no sign of Charlie or his Dad around. Don left him a note to get some food if he got hungry and feel free to wake him up anytime after two.

Not surprisingly though he woke up on his own at about 3 pm and found Colby downstairs watching TV. Obviously the young man had decided not to wake his potentially very irate 'older brother' up. But luckily he looked a lot better than just a few hours before.

Deciding to do first things first Don asked, "How are you feeling?"

"Alright, headache is gone." Colby answered without any trace of the anger and stubbornness from the day before.

"Did you eat yet?"

The young agent shook his head averting Don's eyes.

"You hungry?"

"A little."

"Alright let's make some sandwiches." With these words Don left the living room followed by a somewhat insecure Colby.

The young agent knew he had gotten himself in serious trouble for disobeying Don and by now he really questioned his own sanity. In the kitchen he tried to make some amends, "I am really sorry, Don."

His boss turned to him with an expression between exasperation and fondness, "I know. Can we eat first and then deal with it?"

Colby nodded blushing at the though of how Don would likely 'deal with it'.

Once they finished eating Don send Colby back to his room to wait for him.

After confirming that neither his Dad nor his brother would be home within the next hour Don made his way upstairs with a heavy heart. He didn't like to punish the kid and really hoped that when he got the full story he would not have to be too harsh. When he saw Colby sitting on the bed with his knees drawn up and a 'lost little boy' look on his face it took all his resolve to not just pull him into a hug and say that everything was forgiven and forgotten and feed him ice cream for the rest of the day.

But instead he sat next to him and simply said, "Why don't you tell me what happened yesterday? And to make it easier for both of us just tell me everything, ok?"

Colby nodded miserably and started with a sigh, "I was mad at you for not allowing me to go and for having to ask you in the first place. I thought I am a grown up and I shouldn't be grounded and I guess I worked myself up bad enough that I decided to go anyway. I know it was stupid. I had a couple drinks - not many but they completely knocked me on my ass. I got home it was a little after three and when David picked me up at five thirty I was still asleep. I am really sorry."

"So essentially you threw a tantrum because you didn't get what you wanted?" Don asked with a raised eye brow.

Colby blushed at being talked to like a child and just mumbled, "Yes."

"And you had alcohol even though Dr. Greene and you agreed to take a break for a few weeks?" Don wanted to impress upon Colby that he wasn't just in trouble for disobeying.

"Yes."

"And you left your cell phone at home so we couldn't use it to track you?" Don asked.

Colby nodded.

"Which means if something had happened you would not have had a way to contact anyone? And we wouldn't have had a way to contact you?" the team lead pressed on.

"No." Colby answered softly. He hadn't thought of that before.

Don took a deep breath to ask the question he was most worried about, "Did you drive home last night?"

"No, no I really didn't." Colby insisted, "I took a cab. My car is still at the bar. I thought about it and then I figured you'd kill me if you found out."

Don felt incredibly relieved. At least he didn't have to punish the kid for putting his life in danger again. And it seemed like he was getting through to Colby - at least on some things. But obviously not on everything or they would not be here. So he continued, "Ok, so you 'only' disobeyed my direct order, broke your grounding, lied to me when you said you'd stay home, drank even though you weren't supposed to, disregarded your own safety by not having a phone with you and showed up at work unable to do your job? Did I forget anything?"

Colby blushed and could not look at Don. Barely audible he said, "No sir."

"Do I need to explain to you that you have earned yourself a spanking with this stunt?" Don asked sternly.

Colby shook his head.

"On top of that you'll be confined to this room until we go back to work on Monday morning," Don continued sternly, "That means there will be no TV, no computer, no phone and with the exception of bathroom breaks and meals you are to stay in here at all times. Maybe after that you understand that groundings can be a whole lot more unpleasant than what you experienced the last few weeks."

"Oh," was all Colby could say. He did not like the sound of this.

"Any questions?"

"No sir" Colby answered instantly.

"Good, then let's get this over with. Go stand in the corner for 20 minutes." The older agent ordered.

Without protest Colby scrambled to his feet and made his way to the corner shame facedly. He couldn't really believe he was in this situation again. Not even three weeks earlier he had gotten the spanking of his life followed by a week's worth of bedtime spankings and here he was again. And after the list of "crimes" Don cited the young agent was very nervous about this spanking.

Twenty minutes later Don came back and ordered him over to the bed. Colby realized that neither begging nor protesting would get him anywhere right now and decided to just get it over with with as much dignity as he could muster. Watching Don sit down and placing the ping pong paddle he had brought next to him on the bed the young man could not help but feel a bit relieved. He could deal with something like this much better than the punishment he had received for putting his life in danger.

Colby's relief was short-lived however. Don pulled his sweat pants down before taking the blushing 'kid' over his knees and taking his underwear down also.

"Tell me why you deserve this spanking." Don ordered.

Colby hated having to talk in this embarrassing position. Blushing even more furiously he answered, "I disobeyed you and went to the party and for drinking alcohol and leaving my cell phone at home."

"Exactly," Don confirmed, "I hope you'll learn from this."

Without another word he picked up the ping pong paddle and started spanking the wayward young man over his lap.

Colby was completely surprised by the rapidly building fire in his rear end. Typically Don started off using just his hand over boxer shorts and spanked much slower. But this time the agent barely lifted his arm - instead he just snapped his wrist down over and over as quick as he could. The resulting smacks were not all that hard by themselves but the speed and sheer number created an incredible sting.

"Ow, please Don." Colby protested almost immediately and started squirming and kicking his legs furiously in an attempt to escape the relentless smacks. That got him two much harder smacks to his upper tights. "Hold still" Don ordered sternly. The young agent started crying softly and tried his hardest to stop moving. But after another thirty seconds of what felt like a hundred stinging swats he could not help himself anymore and started fighting again. Don planted two more mighty whacks on Colby's sit spot before trapping his legs with his own right leg.

The older agent knew that his rapid application of the ping pong paddle stung like crazy but that was exactly what he wanted – to create the impression of a serious spanking while in truth the effects were quite superficial and would not last very long.

Taking a pity on the kid who was crying a bit more heavily now, Don continued spanking a little slower without increasing the force of each smack. Colby's backside and upper tights had turned a bright red and he tried to plead with his 'big brother', "Ow" **SMACK** "Don" **SMACK** "I can't" **SMACK** "take" **SMACK** "anymore" **SMACK** "please" **SMACK** "Ow" **SMACK** "It" **SMACK** "hurts" **SMACK** "too" **SMACK** "much" **SMACK** "I am" **SMACK** "sorry" **SMACK** "please, Don" **SMACK**

After that Colby just hung his head and cried. Feeling sorry for him Don put the paddle aside and continued with his hand and a little lecture.

"Colby, the rules" **SPANK** "I make for you" **SPANK** "are not meant" **SPANK** "to ruin your life" **SPANK** "In fact" **SPANK** "I like to think" **SPANK** "they are very reasonable" **SPANK** "all you have to do" **SPANK** "is follow them" **SPANK** "and we will not" **SPANK** "find ourselves in this" **SPANK** "unpleasant situation anymore" **SPANK**

"I know. I am sorry." Colby sobbed.

Deciding that he had gotten his point across Don stopped spanking and pulled Colby's boxer shorts back up before helping him up. Pulling his 'little brother' into a fierce hug Don leaned back against the pillows so the young man could lean on him and keep his backside off the bed.

"It's okay. Just cry it out." Don soothed while rubbing circles on his back. Pretty quickly Colby quieted down and looked a bit sheepish at Don, "I feel pretty stupid for the way I acted. I am sorry. I know you are just trying to protect me."

The older agent smiled at him proudly, "I am glad you see it that way. Maybe next time that will help you obey when I tell you not to go somewhere."

"Definitely." the younger man answered.

"Alright kid. Now I want to know how you have been sleeping since you moved back. I think part of this problem was caused by you being cranky yesterday to begin with." Don changed the subject.

Colby looked at him dismayed. He didn't want to admit that he had slept badly on his own but he didn't want to lie to Don either, "Not that great." He mumbled.

Don sighed, "It's okay. I guess we should have expected something like this. How about you stay here for the next week and we'll see how it goes. And when you move back I thought it might be a good idea for one of us to stay with you until you sleep well in your own place. What do you think?"

"I guess." Colby said without much enthusiasm.

"Listen Colb, I am offering here. After Monday it's completely your decision. I just think it would be good for you to stay here a bit longer." Don said kindly.

"Thanks. It's not that I don't want to stay. I just feel … weak … I guess … for …," Colby trailed of.

"For what?" Don asked puzzled.

The younger man just shrugged looking out of the window to avoid Don's expression.

"Come on kid. Talk to me. Why do you feel weak?" Don urged.

With a frustrated sigh the younger man finally answered, "Because I really want to stay here and I shouldn't want that. I should want to be on my own but right now I just don't."

Don laughed a little at him, "That is nonsense. You know how much time I spend in my apartment versus how often I sleep here? In fact my Dad and Charlie keep asking me why I even have an apartment."

"But this is your family home." Colby protested.

"Yes and you are family." Don answered without hesitation. Seeing Colby tear up again, he continued, "Listen, I am really glad you like it here and want to stay and I think it took some guts to admit that to yourself. So just forget about this having anything to do with being weak and just stay. You'll go back when you are ready and no earlier, ok?"

Colby nodded with a teary smile.

"Plus you have been doing so great with staying off all the pills. We don't want to jeopardize that or I'll never hear the end of it from Dr. Greene or your teammates." Don added with a smirk.

At that Colby had to laugh imagining the kind older doctor lecturing his boss.

A few minutes of companionable silence later Colby looked at Don and asked with a mischievous grin, "So are David and Megan coming over tonight?"

"What?" Don was taken off guard by the question, "I don't think so. You are confined to your room young man, remember?"

"Oh." Colby started to pout a little, "but it's a 'family tradition' by now."

Don looked at him puzzled.

"Well, whenever one of the 'kids' gets spanked you invite everyone else over for dinner." Colby explained.

Don laughed, "I guess that is true. I have been doing that. Alright, how about this, you stay here and I'll see what I can do about tonight."

"Thanks." Colby smiled.

"But don't forget, you are not setting one foot out of this bedroom unless it is to go to the bathroom until I call you for dinner. Or we'll have to have another 'conversation'." Don reminded him in mock sternness.

"No sir. That won't be necessary." Colby answered him with a sparkle in his eyes.

"Good." Don gave his shoulders a last squeeze and stood up. Before leaving the room he grabbed Colby's phone of the desk pretending not to see the disappointed expression in the younger man's eyes. Apparently Colby had hoped he'd forgotten that part.

A few hours later Colby heard Don calling him to dinner. Bouncing down the stairs he was not disappointed when he entered the dining area. Both David and Megan had indeed come over and they spend a fun evening together.

Colby made it through the weekend of being confined to his room without a hitch. But it would be another two weeks before the young man finally felt ready and eager to get back to his own place. When he left Don told him that no matter what happened in the future he'd always be welcome back and for the first time Colby believed him without the shadow of a doubt. They were family after all.


End file.
